Ring Those Bells 2

If you liked that last album with the hand bells, you'll like this one to, because it's more of the same.  What makes this one more interesting is that it's one of the very first albums to come out on Audio Fidelity, one of the great labels of the fifties and sixties.  This one predates the invention of the stereo record, so it's mono, and that may help explain why it's so hard to find today.  There wasn't much call for monophonic music on an audiophile oriented label like Audio Fidelity, so it was never reissued.  Many of the releases on Audio Fidelity are staples of the used bins at thrift stores, but I'd never seen this one before.  My front cover looks like you see it above, but it's a somewhat unique gatefold cover that opens from the center of the back side.  (I've seen and shared something similar here.).  When I found a copy on eBay while researching this, their copy didn't look like mine, and it took me a while to figure it out.  Their inside is my outside.  So I don't know which way is correct.  On mine, the outside looks like this:

And the inside looks like this:

If mine's been folded inside out, it's been like that for a long time.  I didn't want to force it back the other way, and it really didn't want to go.  So take your pick of what you want to call the inside and outside, front or back.  The music here is similar to that last handbell record I shared, only it's mono, and a bit more sedate.  You can download it for the music or as an historical curio from one of the great, yet gone, labels.  This is The Berkshire Bell Ringers-Berkshire Bell Ringers (Audio Fidelity AFLP 1804, Mono, 1956).

1. O Come All Ye Faithful
2. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
3. Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night)
4. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
5. Joy To The World
6. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
7. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
8. Silent Night
9. First Noel
10. I Wonder As I Wander
11. We Three Kings
12. Carol Of The Bells
13. Rise Up Shepherds And Foller
14. Good King Wencelas (It says 'Wencelas' on both the labels and the sleeve...)

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Ring Those Bells 1

I remember being all excited when I found a track from this group that I could use back during Christmas In July 2007.  Then I was even more excited when I found an entire album of Christmas music.  All the songs on this album are performed with hand bells, a unique instrument that you may not be familiar with.  Each bell is tuned to a single note, and for the song to work, each person has to ring his or her bell at just the right time.  One person can play multiple bells, but it gets tricky if the song gets complex.  You've probably heard handbells without knowing it, since they're featured prominently in that holiday Hershey's Kisses commercial where each Kiss shakes and plays a note.  So to hear some unique Christmas music that will have you coming back for more, please download The Klokken Ringers-I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day (Omni Sound N-1043, Stereo, 1981).

1. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
2. Gloria
3. Variations On A French Carol
4. The Skaters, Op. 183
5. Now Sing We, Now Rejoice (In Dulci Jubilo)
6. O Come, All Ye Faithful
7. Joy To The World
8. O Tannenbaum
9. Away In A Manger
10. Hosanna
11. God With Us For All Time (Veni Emmanuel)
12. Un Flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle
13. Ding, Dong Merrily On High
14. Stille Nacht

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July 2009

Here it is, the collection of all the best stuff from Christmas in July 2009.  So far I've brought you similar collection from 2006, 2007 and 2008.  (That still leaves one year unaccounted for. We'll have to wait and see about that one.)  So for all of you who missed this one last year, or who didn't download all these tracks I shared in the middle of summer when it 100 degrees outside and the furthest thing from your mind is Christmas, this is Ernie (Not Bert)'s The Very Best From Christmas In July 2009-Life's A Beach (Ernie (Not Bert), 2009).  As usual, the linked tracks go to the day I originally shared it.  The links for the whole collection in one ZIP file are down below.

1. The Weavers-Santa Claus Is Coming (It's Almost Day)
2. John Klein, Orchestra And Chorus By Leo Addeo-Sweet Nutcracker!
3. Perry Como With The London Boy Singers-Christmas Dream
4. 101 Strings-Ski Run
5. Larry Chesky And His Orchestra-Sun Valley Polka
6. Johnny Dyno-Jingle Bells-Polka
7. Tom T. Hall-Christmas Is
8. Skitch Henderson, His Piano And Orchestra-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
9. The McGuire Sisters With Orchestra Directed By Dick Jacobs-Children's Holiday
10. The Honolulu Symphony Orchestra Conducted By George Barati-Mele Kalikimaka
11. Roger Miller-Footprints In The Snow
12. The Duluth Accordionaires, Directed By John Copiskey-Brazilian Sleigh Bells
13. Lockhart Cougar Chorus-Will The Real Santa Please Stand Up
14. The Merrill Staton Voices-That Man Over There
15. David Rose And His Orchestra-The Sad, Sad Rocking Horse
16. Eddie Albert-Let There Be Peace On Earth
17. Fay McKay-Twelve Daze Of Christmas
18. Dick Shawn, Arranged And Conducted By Milton DeLugg-My Favorite Things
19. Jane Morgan-The Marvelous Toy
20. Anna Russell With Eugene Rankin And Arthur Hoberman-Let Us Hang The Holly
21. The Ray Charles Singers-A Toy For A Boy
22. Jack Shaindlin Conducting The Cinerama Symphony Orchestra-Hup-Sa-Sa
23. Leroy Anderson-Song Of The Bells
24. Merle Haggard-Blue Christmas
25. Kurt Wege & His Orchstra-Sleigh Ride
26. Ernie Maxwell-The Bells Of St. Mary
27. Esquivel, His Piano And His Orchestra-Snowfall
28. Ray Bohr-Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
29. Polyphon Music Box-Silent Night
30. Jimmy Soul-Rockin' Santa
31. Eddie Lawrence, The Old Philosopher-What Do You Want For Christmas

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Christmas Sax

I don't think I've brought you any Christmas on the saxophone this year,so here's a little album that I first brought you back in 2008.  It's Ace Cannon-Christmas Cheers From Ace Cannon, His Alto Sax And Chorus (Hi SHL 32022, Stereo, 1964).  If you're excited by the thought of hearing saxophone Christmas music, you might want to head on over to the forums at FaLaLaLaLa where our good friend Stubbyfears has shared a Japanese only Christmas album from Sam 'The Man' Taylor.  It's good stuff.

1. White Christmas
2. Winter Wonderland
3. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
4. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
5. Here Comes Santa Claus
6. Frosty The Snowman
7. Blue Christmas
8. Jingle Bells
9. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
10. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
11. Jingle Bell Rock
12. Rock Around The Christmas Tree

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Another Beep

I got a few nice comments on the last of these filmstrip soundtracks I shared with you, so I figured I'd throw another one up here.  This time it's a couple of stories that have some relation to Christmas, one related to the Nativity, the other a parable.  I wish I had the visuals to go with these, but those seem to be even rarer than the records.  But you should be able to get the point just from the audio I'm sharing.  Here's hoping you enjoy Stories For Christmas-The Christmas Donkey b/w Peter And The Hermit (Cathedral Films SFC 13/14, Mono, 1963).

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Above The ORGANary

Every once in a while, I'll spot something in a stack of records, and I immediately know it's going to get shared out at the blog.  When I flipped to this record, I just knew that anything titled ExtraORGANary had to be for me.  The question mark at the end of the title didn't hurt it's desirability, either.  The next record in the stack was a second copy, and I bought that one too.  Don't ask me why, I just didn't want to take the chance that the first one wouldn't play correctly.  I knew this was some sort of homebrew release when I flipped it over and it didn't have anything on the back cover.  What's it sound like?  Well, this is not the worst organ record you will hear at the blog this year.  It's also not the best, but I'm not gonna tell you who the best is.  This is in a nice comfortable spot somewhere near the middle.  Just in case all this talk makes you curious, why don't you download Hal Greene-Christmas ExtraORGANary With Hal Greene At The Hammond Spinet? (WAM Records 5001, Mono).

1. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
2. There's A Song In The Air
3. White Christmas
4. Adeste Fideles
5. Santa Claus Medley
6. O Tannenbaum
7. Away In A Manger
8. Walkin' In A Winter Wonderland
9. Mary's Boy Child
10. Let It Snow
11. I'll Be Home For Christmas
12. Silent Night
13. Jingle Bells
14. O Holy Night

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See The Light

One of my old shares that's just too good not to keep bringing back, this is The Lighthouse Singers- Christmas Carols By The Lighthouse Singers (Vik SPV-2, Mono, 1955).

1. Silent Night, Holy Night
2. O Come, All Ye Faithful
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. The First Noel
5. Ave Maria
6. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
7. O Holy Night
8. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
9. Joy To The World
10. The Lord's Prayer

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Edward (Not Blake)

Yep, it's a new-for-2010 share from the Grand Award label, one of Enoch Light's earliest ventures.  He doesn't seem to be on this one, though, but he could be a member of the chorale easily enough.  Anything is possible.  This is a nice group of singers, though not as memorable as some that I've brought you here at Ernie (Not Bert).  But it's worth the price of admission, which just happens to be free.  So get to clicking and download a copy of The Edward Carrington Chorale-Christmas Chorale (Grand Award GA 33-387, Mono, 1958).  By the way, do you know that I get a couple of cents if you click on that ad to the right?  You don't have to buy anything, but it wouldn't hurt if you were to click on one and take a look once in a while.  I'm just sayin'...

1. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
2. Good King Wenceslas
3. Silent Night
4. The First Noel
5. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
6. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
7. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
8. O Come All Ye Faithful
9. Oh Holy Night
10. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
11. Deck The Halls
12. Angels We Have Heard On High
13. Joy To The World
14. Away In A Manger
15. God Give Ye Merry Christmastide
16. Jingle Bells
17. White Christmas
18. Sleigh Ride

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Christmas At Someone Else's House

As I promised, here's a collection of Christmas songs on Grand Award that seems to duplicate all the stuff on that 10" I just shared with you.  The credits are slightly different, though, but I've been assured the tunes are the same.  I shared this out for the first time in 2006, then noticed the similarity to that other record in 2007.  Even the two covers are the same, one being a painted copy of the other.  I'm sure that's just because all the Grand Award releases had painted covers, so they just copied the picture from the earlier release.  Piece of cake.  Anyhow, for your re-listening pleasure tonight, this is Songs To Sing At Christmas Time (Grand Award G.A. 33-348, Mono).  This is also one of the albums in the top ten downloads of all time.  I think this is the last of those that I need to share...I should check.

1. Enoch Light-Sleigh Ride
2. Artie Malvin-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
3. Artie Malvin-The Night Before Christmas
4. Artie Malvin-Let It Snow, Net It Snow, Let It Snow
5. Lois Winter & Loren Becker-Winter Wonderland
6. Enoch Light-When Christmas Comes To Our House
7. Mike Stewart-Frosty, The Snowman
8. Enoch Light-Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
9. Enoch Light-White Christmas
10. Mike Stewart-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
11. Enoch Light-Christmas Has Come Again
12. Enoch Light-Jingle Bells

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Christmas At Our House

What have we got here?  A 10" record on Waldorf Music Hall, that's what.  I first shared this out in 2007, but I'm bring it back tonight.  Not sure why.  I think I have a 12" version of this somewhere with more tracks, and I think all the tracks here are on a release from Grand Award that I'm gonna reshare next.  But I wanted to put it back up in case someone out there is looking for it.  This is When Christmas Comes To Our House (Waldorf Music Hall 10" MH 33-140, Mono).

1. The Brigadiers Quartet With Michael Stewart And Enoch Light And Orchestra-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
2. Artie Malvin-Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
3. The Brigadiers Quartet And Orchestra-Jingle Bells
4. Michael Stewart With Enoch Light And Orchestra-Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
5. Waldorf Music Hall Chorus And Orchestra-White Christmas
6. Dottie Evans With The Brigadiers Quartet-When Christmas Comes To Our House
7. Artie Malvin-Twas The Night Before Christmas
8. Waldorf Music Hall Chorus And Orchestra-Adeste Fideles

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Virgil (Not Megan)

I know you were all hoping I'd bring you Megan Fox for Christmas, but all I could find is this other Virgil Fox record, recorded 11 years prior to the one I brought you earlier this evening.  I've even got two covers for this one, the original down at the bottom, and a reissue up here at the top of the post.  I put that one first because it was the one I recorded.  This is Virgil Fox-Christmas Carols On The Organ (RCA Victor Red Seal LM-1845, Mono, 1954).

1. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
2. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
3. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
4. Gesu Bambino
5. We Three Kings
6. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
7. Angels We Have Heard On High
8. Angels From The Realms Of Glory
9. Joy To The World
10. The Snow Lay On The Ground
11. I Know A Rose-Tree Springing
12. The First Nowell
13. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
14. Away In A Manger
15. Silent Night, Holy Night
16. Christmas (Variations On The Traditional O Come, All Ye Faithful By Gaston Déthier)

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More Command Christmas

From one Christmas LP on the Command label to another...  This is a new share, but it's something I had recorded years ago.  I didn't get a chance to put it out there two years ago, then the computer crash last year meant that I lost all the work I'd done on it.  So I recorded it again this year, and here it is.  You'll note that this is the Command Classics label, so it's not pop music.  In fact, it's more organ music, sorry about that.  But it's pretty good if you like that sort of thing.  This is Virgil Fox-The Christmas Album (Command Classics CC 11032 SD, Stereo, 1965).

1. The First Noel
2. In Dulci Jubilo
3. I Wonder As I Wander
4. The Virgin's Slumber Song (Vocals By Louise Natale)
5. Vers La Creche (Near The Cradle)
6. I Saw Three Ships
7. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
8. Divinum Mysterium
9. O Holy Night! (Vocals By Louise Natale)
10. Variations On "Adeste Fideles"

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At Your Command

From the fine folks at the Command family of labels, this is one of their most interesting Christmas releases.  There were a couple of others, but I don't think any of them were as good as this one.  I've been sharing it here since 2006, and it's one of my favorite shares each year.  This is Merry Christmas From The Command Family Of Recording Stars (Command RS 920 SD, Stereo, 1967).

1. William Steinberg and The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra-Adeste Fidelis
2. The Ray Charles Singers-Christmas Is A Birthday
3. Bobby Byrne-The Christmas Song
4. Ashley Miller-The First Noel
5. The Robert De Cormier Singers-Mary’s Little Boy Child
6. Toots Thielemans-Jingle Bells
7. The Ray Charles Singers-Silent Night
8. Al Casamenti And The Command Guitars And Strings-Sleigh Ride
9. Robert Maxwell-White Christmas
10. Doc Severinsen-Joy To The World
11. Dick Hyman-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
12. Virgil Fox-O Holy Night

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At The Beep

I've still got a few of these old filmstrip soundtracks I want to share out, so those of you who get easily bored might want to go check out someplace exciting, like Santas Working Overtime.  They're one of the best online resources to find all sorts of Christmas downloads.  Updates are posted three or four times a day, and they find the coolest stuff out there, most of it available for free downloads.  Those of you with longer attention spans will want to download this 12" soundtrack to a filmstrip that may no longer exist.  Both sides are extremely similar, one side labeled This Side For General Use, the other labeled This Side For Teaching.  Not sure what that's all about, but play it for yourself and see if you can figure it out.  This is The Story Of Jesus-The Nativity (Cathedral Films SOJ-12, Mono, 1957).

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Warner Wally

I really should have shared this out earlier in the week when I blew out all those shares from the early days of the Warner Bros. label, but I forgot about it until this morning when I saw the mono version shared out.  This is one of those rare LPs that had a different name for the stereo versus mono version.  This one is Happy Holiday-Christmas In Stereo, while the mono version is entitled Happy Holiday-Christmas In High Fidelity.  Small difference, but I like noticing such things.  Really great music on here, I was surprised when I listened to it how much I enjoyed it.  I'm sure you will as well, so please download Wally Stott, His Orchestra And Chorus-Happy Holiday-Christmas In Stereo (Warner Bros WS 1341, Stereo, 1959).  That sleeve is a shiny, very reflective gold foil, and it didn't take well to the scanning process.

1. Happy Holiday
2. Wassail Song
3. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
4. Christmas Sleigh Bells
5. Shepherd's Chorus
6. The Holly And The Ivy
7. The Christmas Waltz
8. Away In A Manger
9. Good King Wenceslas
10. Snowfall
11. Silent Night! Holy Night!
12. White Christmas

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A Little Bit Of Disco

From the cracks and crevices of history come this 7" EP courtesy of ShowBiz Pizza (did they turn into Chuck E. Cheese?).  I'm not sure if they're still around, but I'm sure that if they are, you can't buy 7" records there anymore.  I don't even know what to say about this.  It's not really disco, but to a kid back in the day, it may have sounded like disco.  And there's a nice imitation of Elvis on the flip side.  Just download it, you know you want to.  This is The Rock-Afire Explosion-Disco Christmas (Showbiz Pizza Place-Creative Records VI 7" 33 RPM, Stereo, 1982).

1. Disco Christmas
2. In December
3. If Every Day Were Like Christmas-Featuring Billy Bob

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Another Byrd

Sometime during the past year or so, I stumbled across Charlie Byrd's Christmas album.  I'd never seen it before and figured it was just the thing for sharing.  At least I thought so until I realized it was pretty easily available.  Further digging into the archives revealed this LP that you see above, which I at first thought was a different cover for the Columbia LP.  Further research reveled that it wasn't, but was in fact recordings that Byrd made 10 years later and released them himself, possibly as something to sell at concerts or somewhere.  The track list overlaps his original Christmas album considerably (all but one track is on both albums), but these are different recordings.  You really have to like that style of guitar playing to be into these, but if you like that sort of thing, this is the album for you.  Please download Charlie Byrd-The Christmas Album (Track Recording CO 8788, Stereo, 1976).

1. O Holy Night
2. Joy To The World
3. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
5. The Christmas Song
6. Do You Hear What I Hear?
7. Silent Night, Holy Night
8. What Child Is This (Greensleeves)
9. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
10. Coventry Carol
11. Good King Wenceslas
12. The First Noel
13. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
14. We Three Kings

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Hmmm. looks like there's yet another album of Charlie Byrd Christmas music. The man was prolific.

Drum On This

The story is best told elsewhere, but the short version is this.  Jack Halloran recorded a song called Carol of the Drum and put it on an album in 1957.  In 1958, Harry Simeone recorded a nearly identical song, released it as a single called The Little Drummer Boy which he claimed to have co-written, it became a huge smash,and that was that.  Except that he really didn't write it.  He barely arranged it.  His version was, as I said, nearly identical to Halloran's version, and several others that had come before it.  At the most, he just retitled it.  So Simeone got all the credit, and nobody knows Halloran's name today.  Shame, that.  This is the stereo version of that 1957 LP (which you can see here, at my original post from 2007, and my original stereo post is here, also from 2007).  After the 1958 debacle, they retitled it and rereleased it, and that's what you're getting tonight.  Please download and enjoy The Jack Halloran Singers-The Little Drummer Boy (Dot DLP 25233, Stereo, 1959). It's been released a few more times since 1959, one of those covers is the one you see below.

1. The Little Drummer Boy
2. Christmas Is A-Comin'
3. I Wonder As I Wander
4. While Shepherds Watched Their Sheep
5. Lullaby For The Infant Jesus
6. The Holly And The Ivy
7. Deck The Halls
8. Adeste Fideles
9. Joy To The World
10. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
11. Pat-A-Pan
12. Mary's Little Boy Child
13. Go Tell It On The Mountain
14. The Prince Of Peace
15. Angels We Have Heard On High
16. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
17. The First Noel
18. Silent Night
19. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

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While I'm at it, here's the mono version from 1957. Same tracks, different order, better cover (the one below). The Jack Halloran Singers-Christmas Is A-Comin' (Dot DLP 3076, 1957)

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Next Week

I've got a chance next week to shoot another full lunar eclipse, and I'm a little excited.  This composite photo is from the last eclipse I shot in 2008.  This was a couple of cameras ago, and with a 300mm lens if I remember correctly.  This time around I've got a 400mm L series lens, and an 18MP digital sensor, so I should be able to get some great shots if the weather cooperates.  Probably going to be pretty cold, and the fireworks don't start until after midnight, so we'll see. Wish me luck!

Warner Kids

Surely you figured out that I was building to something, posting all those old Warner Bros. shares, one right after the other?  Well, this is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, a new share for 2010.  Someone actually sent me this record two years ago, and I'm sure I never properly thanked them for it.  They probably got tired of watching the blog to see if I'd ever share it, but it took a while.  I tried to record it last year, but it had a skip in it.  The vinyl looked pristine, but no matter what I tried, I couldn't get that skip out.  So I kept looking for a second copy of this LP so I could share out the whole thing.  Finally, in a pile of really nasty looking vinyl, in a cover that was half missing and all waterlogged, I found a second copy.  I was able to get the dirt and mildew off of it, and record at least the part of the song I needed to make it whole again.  Since then I've found a mono copy, which I think is what I scanned the front of because it looked the best of all of them.  The fronts all look the same, but the backs are different, extolling either the benefits of stereo sound, or telling you how mono isn't all that bad.  But anyhow, after that long-winded introduction, I'm proud to share for the first time, The Children's Choir Of All Nations-Some Children See Him (Warner Bros WS 1231, Stereo, 1958).

1. Some Children See Him
2. Angels We Have Heard On High
3. Up On The Housetop
4. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
5. Go Tell It On The Mountain
6. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
7. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
8. Away In A Manger
9. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
10. O Come Little Children
11. Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
12. The Star Carol
13. O Come, All Ye Faithful
14. O Christmas Tree
15. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
16. O Holy Night
17. Jolly Old St. Nicholas
18. Foom, Foom, Foom
19. Jingle Bells
20. There's A Song In The Air
21. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
22. Silent Night

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Warner Chorus

Nope, not done yet with the stuff from Warner Bros.  It's amazing what a varied repertoire they had in those early years.  There are several Christmas LPs that came out in this period that I'd love to share, but can't because they've made it to CD.  But I think I've got more than enough of them to keep you busy tonight.  This time around it's a great chorus tackling some of the classic songs of Christmas, along with a couple of things you won't hear elsewhere. As has been the case with many of these Warner discs, I first shared this out in 2008.  If you've somehow missed it since then, please download The Gene Lowell Chorus-Caroling, Caroling (Warner Bros. WS 1233, Stereo, 1958).

1. Joy To The World
2. The First Noel
3. I Saw Three Ships-O Little Town Of Bethlehem-Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
4. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
5. Still, Still, Still
6. Adeste Fidelis (O Come All Ye Faithful)
7. Westminster Carol (Angels We Have Heard On High)
8. Silent Night
9. Merry Christmas One And All
10. The Wassail Song-O Christmas Tree-The Holly And The Ivy
11. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
12. Caroling, Caroling

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(All these different upload sites are getting to be a real pain.  One works, then it doesn't.  Then one goes down completely or slows to a crawl.  Then I copy the wrong link, or upload the wrong file.  It winds up taking four times as long to make a post than it should, especially on this rerun stuff.  And I sit here waiting for the uploads to finish, even on a cable connection.  Sorry, I just felt like getting that off my chest.)

Warner Stars

You haven't cried uncle yet, so I'm just going to keep on posting the stuff from Warner Bros.  This time it's a newly remastered version of the stereo version of this great share for 2006.  I got the stereo one last year for you, but my scanner yielded a cover that just looked horrid.   So this year I rescanned the cover, and I think it looks one hundred percent better, plus I ran my original WAV files through ClickRepair, so it sounds much better as well.  I think you'll really enjoy this one, so please download We Wish You A Merry Christmas-15 Great Christmas Favorites Sung By Warner Bros. Stars (Warner Bros WS1337, Stereo, 1959).

1. Efrem Zimbalist Jr.-Adeste Fideles
2. Warner Bros. Stars-Deck The Halls
3. Connie Stevens-Away In A Manger
4. Edward Byrnes-Yulesville
5. Peter Brown-Winter Wonderland
6. Ray Danton-God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
7. Poncie Ponce-Mele Kalikimaka
8. Eddie Cole-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
9. Bob Conrad-White Christmas
10. Dorothy Provine-Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
11. Clint Walker-Silver Bells
12. Roger Moore-Once In Royal David's City
13. Warner Bros. Male Chorus-Star Carol
14. Ty Hardin-It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
15. Warner Bros. Stars-We Wish You A Merry Christmas

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Warner Pianos

Another in a long line of great albums from the early years of Warner Bros. Records, this time featuring the piano.  George Greeley released a whole series of LPs on Warner Bros, but as far as I know, this was the only Christmas one.  I first shared this with you in 2008, and I'm bringing it back tonight.  This is George Greeley With The Warner Bros. Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Ted Dale-The Twenty-Two Best Loved Christmas Piano Concertos (Warner Bros WS 1338, Stereo, 1959).

1. Joy To The World; It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
2. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
3. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly; O Christmas Tree; Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town; Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
4. All On A Christmas Morning; We'll Dress This House
5. Silent Night; Adeste Fideles
6. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; Away In A Manger; We Three Kings Of Orient Are; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
7. Carol Of The Drum
8. White Christmas
9. Jingle Bells
10. O Holy Night
11. The First Noel; Auld Lang Syne

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Warner Bells

This is a cute little record, part of tonight's Warner Brothers share-a-thon.  This one makes great background music, maybe for the DJs out there who need a little musical bed, or to play while you're not going to concentrate on the music.  I think I first shared this out back in 2008, if memory serves.  So if you missed it then, please download The Sounds Of Christmas-The Wonderful World Of The Music Box, Bells And Chimes (Warner Bros. WS 1238, Stereo, 1958).  I love this early stuff on the Warner Bros. label.  I don't know why, exactly, it just feels like Christmas.

1. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
2. The First Noel
3. Jolly Old St. Nicolas
4. Away In A Manger
5. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
6. O Christmas Tree
7. O Come All Ye Faithful
8. Silent Night
9. Joy To The World
10. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
11. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
12. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
13. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
14. Jingle Bells
15. Winter Wonderland
16. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
17. White Christmas

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Jimmy & Billy

One of my all-time favorite shares, this LP features the great voices of Jimmy Joyce's singers, as well as an orchestra led by the great Billy May.  How can you go wrong with that?  Not only is this the stereo version, I've also run it through ClickRepair this year, so it sounds better than ever.  You really need to download The Jimmy Joyce Singers With Orchestra Conducted By Billy May-A Christmas To Remember (Warner Bros WS 1237, Vitaphonic Stereo, 1958).

1. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
2. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
3. An Old Fashioned Christmas
4. Jingle Bells Around The World
5. Christmas Hop
6. Medley Of Foreign Carols
7. Round About Christmas
8. Santa Claus Sleigh Ride
9. The Story Of Christmas
10. Christmas Dinner Country Style
11. Reprise Medley
12. Medley Of English Carols

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Part 4-Solo

This is the fourth part of tonight's trilogy dedicated to the organ and chime work of Norman Wright and Charles Kendall.  Only difference this time is that Norman Wright isn't along for the ride.  I was able to find a stereo copy of this one, though, but it's a reissue on the Word label from a few years later.  The Word reissue came out in 1972, but I couldn't find a date for the original issue on Dot.  The Word cover is a pretty poor copy of the Dot original, too, so I scanned in a mono copy of the Dot cover just so you can see what it's supposed to look like.  I have a small story to tell you about recording this one.  It was the first thing I recorded one morning, and I guess I'd been recording singles the night before.  I recorded the whole thing, both sides, even cut it into tracks before I realized it was on 45 RPM and not 33.  I think it may have sounded better at 45, to tell you the truth.  A faster tempo never hurts these organ & chime records.  I almost shared that version with you just for kicks, but I didn't do it.  If you want to hear it that way, there are plenty of software programs you can download to change the speed of a recording.  Anyhow, you can finish up your collection by downloading Dr. Charles Kendall-Christmas Chimes (Word WST-8488-LP, Stereo, 1972), a reissue of Dot DLP 3083.

1. Adeste Fideles
2. O Little Town of Bethlehem
3. What Child Is This
4. Joy To The World
5. While Shepherds Watch'd Their Flocks
6. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
7. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
8. O Tannenbaum
9. Away In A Manger
10. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
11. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
12. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
13. The First Noel
14. There's A Song In The Air
15. Fairest Lord Jesus
16. Harken All
17. Infant Holy
18. Deck The Halls
19. Love Came Down
20. Silent Night

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